It's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder against Anfernee Simons and the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night at Moda Center.

In all three matchups, Simons outplayed the man who essentially raised him on the court during their five seasons together in Rip City. Coincidence? Yes, according to Simons, who scored

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was impressed by his team’s defense limiting the Portland Trail Blazers’ leading scorers and its poise to remain relentless against their role players.

Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak.

The rebuilding Blazers lost five straight before going on their four-game winning streak. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. Josue got his start as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com. He grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media, where he is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.

LOS ANGELES – Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland on Jan 26 to push their National Basketball Association-best record to 37-8 but his teammate Isaiah Hartenstein said the Canadian’s defensive skills are underappreciated.

Analyzing Sunday’s Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers odds and lines, with NBA expert picks, predictions and best bets.

BOTTOM LINE: Portland heads into a matchup with Oklahoma City as winners of four games in a row. The Trail Blazers are 11-23 against Western Conference opponents. Portland is 6-18 in games decided by at least 10 points. The Thunder have gone 20-7 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City has a 0-3 record in one-possession games.

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.